Serbian Startup Car:Go is Taking Over the Balkans

Car:Go is a ridesharing mobile app based in Belgrade. What is exciting about it is that it not only provides customers with quick access to a car for their next ride, but it also allows them to make an entirely cash-free mobile payment for rides that are 30-50% lower than regular taxi services. Car:Go is currently engaged in finalizing an investment that brought about the expansion of the company beyond the borders of Serbia.

Starting from June 1st, Car:Go is launching in Budva. “Our on-demand ride services and mobile payments are now available in Montenegro, both in Budva and Tivat. More locations in the Balkans and West Europe are coming very soon,” announces Car:Go co-founder and CEO Vuk Guberinic exclusively for Superfounders Live.

He also dedicated a portion of his busy schedule to provide some insights into Car:Go and reveal the latest news.

The story of Car:Go begins in March 2015, when Vuk Guberinic and Marko Vucic decided to disrupt the way people get, pay, and experience car rides in Belgrade. Only 3 months after the breakthrough at the ICT Hub, Car:Go received a prize in recognition of their mobility application at the Belgrade Venture Forum. With no additional funding and depending completely on internal bootstrapping, the company has soon managed to become one of the leaders in the Balkans for securing cheap on-demand ride alongside easy-to-use mobile payment.

Image credit: mts.rs

As Guberinic declares, current stats include a total number of 15,000+ app downloads, ca. 2000 active users, and around 30 partnering companies. “One of our biggest challenges has been maintaining a certain number of drivers that will meet the needs of our customers at any given time period and not allowing that to affect the price we offer to our partners at the same time.” Car:Go currently counts about 50 vehicles and 5-10 active drivers in any part of the day.

Competition is also part of the challenges that Car:Go faces. Although, there are several other companies that are offering seemingly the same services as they are, the Car:Go team is confident they are bringing unique value to the market. “We do consider ourselves slightly better than our competition. There are three advantages that clearly raise us above the bars, and those are: the special way we treat our clients, the high quality of vehicles and careful selection of drivers, as well as our collaboration with other companies and corporations. This is what makes us stand out from the rest and we take great pride in it,” claims Guberinic.

Available ride options at Car:Go range between mini, economy, and van class, each of which responds to a different necessity of the customer. “The mini class rides are excellent for cheaper prices, economy class cars pick up a few customers, whereas van class is the most recent feature for group rides of up to 8 people introduced mid-May this year.”

The company started with an initial number of 3 employees and has soon expended to 6. While the team and services expand, Car:Go is still holding on to the initial startup spirit. As Vuk puts it, “We maintain a relaxed working atmosphere, but when it comes to budgeting we are still rigorous at cutting the costs down to a minimum.”

Apparently, as the company grows, its business strategy also matures. “Car:Go is becoming the first ride-sharing mobile app that will soon offer green mobility,” he announces. “On the long run, the company is focused on providing rides in hybrid and electric vehicles as an alternative for building eco-friendly and self-sustainable cities. This is a niche that has not been targeted yet, anywhere! We are ready to embrace it. Car:Go is no longer only a mobile payment app – it is set to become the first green ridesharing app in the world!”